Applying principles of robotics to understand the biomechanics, neuromuscular control and clinical rehabilitation of human digits

Given the biomechanical complexity of the human hand, it is not surprising that the grasping ability of individuals after treatment for severe paralysis or injury can seldom be restored to the level of the "normal" hand. Improving clinical outcomes will require: i) developing experimental paradigms to evaluate hand function objectively, ii) understanding how the nervous system controls the redundant musculature of the digits, and iii) increasing the clinical impact of computer biomechanical models by validating their anatomical assumptions. Recognizing that the human hand is also a mechanical system, the principles of robotics developed for the analysis of manipulators can be applied to each of these three clinical challenges. This paper is an overview of experimental and theoretical work aimed at understanding individual human digits as serial manipulators.